How To Design Your CD-ROM So The Viewer Can Use It Effectively

Ready, Steady, Go!

These concise instructions explain exactly what to do and leave no doubts in your mind. You start immediately you hear the word 'go'. But think how differently it would be if instead of 'go' the starter said 'proceed forward as fast as you can'.

The instruction to commence using your Windows™ software is simply, 'Start'. All title and menu options are short and concise, yet provide an accurate description of their function. When designing the layout and navigation of your CD-ROM you must try to keep it simple and almost automatic.

You will lose your customers for ever, if you make them confused or uncertain what to do next, how to do it, or where to find the information they need. So, how can you create a good design?

Your Contents Page

The subject matter and contents of an interactive CD-ROM can vary a great deal, and what you include on your main contents page will depend upon them. You may decide to design pictorial contents or a straightforward list.

You can also give the user the choice to use either type of navigation, because while some people enjoy the use of colour and images, many others prefer to scan a list and quickly find their way around.

If you are designing a book catalog, your contents page can be a picture of a large bookshop with the various sections clearly marked. When the user clicks on a section, say Mystery, they are given the opportunity to view by Author, Title, or Publisher and the list of titles can be arranged on the left. Click on any title, and a cover picture together with the relevant details can appear on the right.

With a text version, the main contents page normally contains the section headings, and when the user goes to that section they can see a section-contents page. Alternatively, you can list the section-titles to the left of your page and as the user clicks or hovers on each, the details of that section can appear in the main window.

Your CD-ROM can also include a linked Index, which lists every item and feature within the program and allows the user to search and click on any term and be immediately directed to that page.

Finding The Way Home

Many CD-ROMs only allow the user to navigate forwards or backwards and this can mean they will find it difficult to get back to the start of that section, or the main contents page.

It is not usually desirable on a CD-ROM to provide a complete navigation guide on each page, as you find on Websites, but it is still useful to include the following navigation tools on almost every page:

Previous // Next // Menu // Contents // Quit

• Previous: Return to the previous page or screen
• Next: Continue and proceed to the next part
• Menu: Go up a level to the Section Contents
• Contents: Go up two levels to the Main Contents
• Quit: Close the program and quit the session

Naturally, you can use your own words to suit the CD-ROM and the type of user.

When To Break The Rule

There are many types of CD-ROM where you cannot feasibly use the above system on every page or screen without making nonsense of the information you want the viewer to see.

The user may be in the middle of a series of questions on a test, or watching a movie, or slide-show, and the last thing you want is to distract them with your navigation bar.

There are many solutions to this, and one simple way is to provide them with a 'return to main menu' key. For example, you can set the combination of the Alt and Ctrl keys depressed together so it will stop any part of your CD-ROM and return them to the main menu.

Your Help Section

You may have been working on your CD-ROM project for weeks or even months, and you will know your way around every nook and cranny. It is all too easy to forget that somebody using it for the first time will know nothing.

You must have a Help section that contains answers to the obvious and simple questions as well as the more difficult things to understand. If your CD-ROM is complex, you may be advised to provide access to the Help section on your main navigation bar.

Don't worry about having too much in your Help section...nobody ever complains about that, but you'll get a lot of complaints if you miss something out. Especially if it is something important.

Glossary

Your CD-ROM may use a lot of technical terms, abbreviations, and other information that you understand from daily use in writing and compiling it, but your user may not readily understand.

A searchable Glossary, with a simple explanation of each word or phrase, is a must in many instances.

Online Links

You can let your CD-ROM user access more detailed information on your Website by using hyperlinks from within the CD-ROM.

Take care with providing links to other Websites or to Websites that you do not control, because their information can become dated, competitive, or the page can be removed altogether.

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